Matt Fisher and Gus Atkinson, Surrey’s impressive pace duo, stole the show at the Kia Oval. Their superb display inspired their team to storm into a dominant position on the first day of their County Championship showdown with Nottinghamshire. The game featured two of the league’s three best teams. The ambition would soon be caught out, as Nottinghamshire crumbled to a mere 231 all out.
Gus Atkinson was sensational with the ball, taking four for 41. His partner Matt Fisher shone just as brightly, taking five for 61. That was a major milestone for Fisher who focused on the team’s belief in themselves following the day’s competition.
“As everyone knows, there is a template for how we want to play our cricket here at the Oval and today pretty much fitted that template.” – Matt Fisher
Nottinghamshire’s reply was led by Ben Slater, who scored 50 off 95 balls but it wasn’t enough. Their batting line up crumbled soon enough under the pressure from the Surrey bowlers. Freddie McCann provided important runs in making 34 as did Joe Clarke with 29.
Dom Sibley has been an inspired signing for Nottinghamshire this season. Instead, he edged to the wicketkeeper for a golden duck, leaving Surrey with an invaluable breakthrough late in the day before stumps.
“It was a big wicket to get just before stumps, because Dom Sibley is the division’s leading run-scorer this season, though two wickets would have been better.” – Ben Slater
Surrey took full advantage of their momentum. At the end of the day’s play, they had rattled on 43 runs and lost just one wicket. Rory Burns was unmatched on 19 at the close, digging his heels in as England sought to make a match-winning first innings total.
Dillon Pennington was impressive for Surrey, taking one in nine economical runs. This was only Atkinson’s fourth Championship game of the season, but he showed plenty of improvement and skill.
The day ended with Surrey taking a full three points from the match, as Nottinghamshire left with a big fat zero. The result meant Nottinghamshire had to rethink their plan as they went into the first session of the rest of the game.
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